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MINNEAPOLIS — Brutal winter weather bringing snow, dangerous gusts of wind and bitter cold settled over much of the northern U.S. on Wednesday, shutting down roadways, closing schools and businesses and prompting dire warnings for people to stay home. The massive storm with blizzard-like conditions to the north were part of a wild weather day across the U.S. Wind gusts, combined with snow and rain, forced closure of a long stretch of interstate highway in the Southwest. Meanwhile, many places in the mid-Atlantic down to Florida are expected to see record high temperatures — in some cases up to 40 degrees above normal. Many schools throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin were called off for Wednesday, ahead of the storm. Offices closed, and so did the Minnesota Legislature. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem shut down state executive branch offices in several parts of the state, and employees were working remotely. In Wyoming, virtually every road was impacted, and many were closed. Officials warned they may stay that way for days. “Please change travel plans if your are coming towards Wyoming, waiting to go west from Cheyenne or Laramie on I-80, or waiting to go east on I-80 from Rock Springs,” the Wyoming Department of Transportation posted on Facebook. “A major winter storm and multi-day closures are likely on Interstates and secondary roads throughout Wyoming!” Michelle Wilson said business was slow at the Denny’s where she works in Fargo, North Dakota, where the morning temperatures was minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 24 degrees Celsius). Wilson wasn’t surprised — people know better than to venture out when the weather turns this dangerous. “When the wind picks up and your in a flat land like North Dakota, it’s whiteout conditions immediately,” Wilson said. The storm will make its way toward the East Coast later in the week. Places that don’t get snow may get dangerous amounts of ice. Forecasters expect up to a half-inch of ice in some areas of southern Michigan, northern Illinois and some eastern states. The snowfall could be historic, even in a region accustomed to heavy snow. As much as 25 inches may pile up, with the heaviest amounts falling across east-central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph and wind chills are expected to hit minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 degrees Celsius) in some parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area could see 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow or more for the first time in over 30 years. Temperatures in the nation’s northern tier could plunge as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 29 degrees Celsius) Thursday and to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 degrees Celsius) Friday in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wind chills may fall to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 degrees Celsius), said Nathan Rick, a meteorologist in Grand Forks. Wind gusts may reach 50 mph in western and central Minnesota, resulting in “significant blowing and drifting snow with whiteout conditions in open areas,” the weather service said. According to the weather service, the biggest snow event on record in the Twin Cities was 28.4 inches from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, 1991 — known as the Halloween Blizzard. The second-largest was 21.1 inches of snow from Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, 1985. The Twin Cities got 20 inches of snow on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23, 1982. Hardware store owners said residents were generally taking the forecast in stride. At C&S Supply, an employee-owned hardware store in Mankato, Minnesota, manager Corey Kapaun said demand was high for salt and grit, but not for shovels, snow blowers or other equipment. He attributed that to the fact that winter is two-thirds over. “I think people are either prepared or they’re not,” Kapaun said. “It’s usually the first snowfall of the year that gets a lot of attention. With a storm like this, I expected a little bit more, but we’ve already had a big year of snow already.” Forecasters at AccuWeather said the same storm system could result in icing across a 1,300-mile (2,092 -kilometer) band from near Omaha, Nebraska, to New Hampshire on Wednesday and Thursday, creating potential travel hazards in or near cities such as Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and Boston. As the northern U.S. deals with a winter blast, record warmth is expected in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast — 30 degrees to 40 degrees above normal in some places. Record highs are expected from Baltimore to New Orleans and in much of Florida, National Weather Service Meteorologist Frank Pereira said. Washington, D.C., could hit 80 degrees on Thursday, which would top the record of 78 degrees set in 1874. A more than 200-mile stretch of Interstate 40 from central Arizona to the New Mexico line closed Wednesday morning due to wind gusts reaching up to 80 mph, plus snow and rain. Thousands were without power in Arizona. California was also preparing for the latest in a series of winter storms as winds that began blowing Tuesday brought the potential for rain, snow and hail for much of the state. A “major snow event” was possible in foothills and mountains near Los Angeles, with several inches predicted even for elevations as low as 1,000 feet, the weather service said. “Nearly the entire population of CA will be able to see snow from some vantage point later this week if they look in the right direction (i.e., toward the highest hills in vicinity),” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain wrote on Twitter. Daytime temperatures in Southern California were unlikely to get out of the low to mid-50s and potentially damaging winds reaching 50 mph were predicted along the central coast, with gusts of 70 mph possible in mountains. Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Julie Walker in New York, Amy Forliti in Minneapolis, Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, Margaret Stafford in Kansas City, Missouri, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

ATLANTA — It’s the heavyweight lobbying battle of this year’s Georgia legislative session: Should the state allow heavier trucks on its roads? The House Transportation Committee voted 18-11 on Feb. 9 to advance a House bill which would increase the weight limit for large trucks to 90,000 pounds. Now, most trucks are limited to 80,000 pounds, the same as the federal limit on interstate highways. The bill advanced to the full House after a five-and-a-half hour hearing, despite a furious counterattack from the Georgia Department of Transportation. “The fact is allowing heavier weights on the highways and bridges shortens the lifecycle of our bridges and pavements,” Meg Pirkle, the department’s chief engineer, told committee members, as state Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry sat next to her. Trucks hauling agricultural or natural resource products are allowed to carry 84,000 pounds on state roads except interstates. Logging, farming and trucking groups have long wanted a further increase, saying they could save money by hauling the same amount of freight over fewer trips. “This is their business. This is their livelihood, and are we taking a look at that and saying ‘Hey, can we help them be more efficient?’ They pay taxes as well.” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Steven Meeks of Screven, a farmer. Opponents warn taxpayers will pay more for infrastructure repairs, essentially subsidizing truckers. They also fear that heavier trucks could pose more danger to people riding in lighter passenger vehicles. McMurry estimated that it could cost billions more to rebuild damaged state highways and to replace state bridges that wouldn’t meet the new weight standard, suggesting Georgia might have to increase fuel taxes. “We’ll have to redirect our funding and spend billions — let me say that again, billions — more in maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction rather than advancing many of the critical projects you all need in your districts,” McMurry said. He also said the state would immediately post weight limits on another 1,400 bridges to bar 90,000-pound trucks, on top of the 1,400 that are already posted to bar 80,000-pound trucks. He said that could lead to long detours, or even make some parts of the state inaccessible to super-heavy trucks. “You’re going to drive a lot further to go around, which costs money,” McMurry said. The bill would put into law a move that Gov. Brian Kemp has already made for heavy trucks that get permits. The Republican governor has repeatedly renewed a supply chain emergency order, after he stopped signing broader COVID-19 orders, that allows some trucks of up to 95,000 pounds on roads. The current order lasts through March 11. The Feb. 9 hearing packed a committee room with dozens of lobbyists and onlookers, as 30 of the committee’s members questioned witnesses for hours. Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles said a study shows each heavier truck degrades a road more, but that fewer trips would offset the damage. Pirkle disputed the point, saying fewer heavier loads may do more damage. He said fewer trips would also emit less carbon dioxide. “If I can carry them 10% more product, I don’t have to go back as often.” said Weyman Hunt, the owner of Godfrey’s Feed in Madison, which supplies cattle feed. Toby McDowell of Locust Grove, who owns a logging company, said Kemp’s executive order had increased revenue enough that he was able to buy new trucks and trailers and is now delivering the same tonnage of logs with five trucks instead of nine. “If the order goes away, a business such as my own, we lose that revenue,” McDowell said. But city and county officials said big trucks are harming local roads and bridges, with more than 100 signing a letter opposing the weight increase. Nancy Thrash, a Lamar County commissioner, said a log truck damaged a freshly paved road in her county, which now it needs to be paved again. “The weight increase this industry is asking for is unsustainable,” Thrash said. “Rural counties have a hard time keeping our roads maintained due to budget constraints and inflation costs.” Steve Owings, an Atlanta man whose son was killed in 2002 when a truck plowed into his stopped car in Virginia, said increased weight limits would make trucks “demonstrably less safe.” Owings, a co-founder of Road Safe America, said that physics show increased weight means it takes a longer distance for trucks to stop. “This is a step, potentially, in exactly the wrong direction,” Owings said. “If anything, we should be finding ways to make big trucks safer in Georgia.”  

WASHINGTON — The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has created a survey seeking motor carrier input on the impact of marijuana legalization on the trucking industry’s workforce. This research was identified as a top priority in 2022 by ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee and will expand on ATRI’s 2019 study on the impacts of marijuana legalization on roadway safety, according to a news release. “States are moving quickly to legalize recreational marijuana use,” said Fred Fakkema, Vice President of Safety and Compliance at Zonar Systems and Chairman of the American Trucking Associations’ Law Enforcement Advisory Board.  “This rapid change directly impacts fleets and their workforce; ATRI’s research will help quantify those impacts.” Motor carrier staff and executives familiar with driver recruitment, retention and drug testing practices and trends are asked to share their input through the online survey. “This timely research will provide insight into the specific challenges motor carriers face as the use of recreational marijuana grows in the U.S.,” the news release stated. “The findings should also provide insight into approaches the industry can take to address these challenges.” Click here to participate in the survey.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is proposing changes to its Safety Measurement System (SMS) to reduce and prevent commercial vehicle crashes. The SMS uses data from roadside inspections, crash reports and investigations to identify and prioritize for intervention the motor carriers that pose the greatest risk to safety. “Safety is FMCSA’s core mission. The proposed changes are part of the Agency’s continued commitment to enhancing the fairness, accuracy, and clarity of our prioritization system,” said FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson. Some of the proposed changes include reorganizing the SMS’s safety categories organizing roadside violations into violation groups for prioritization purposes, simplifying violation severity weights, adjusting some of the intervention thresholds that identify companies for possible intervention and more changes aimed at comparing similar motor carriers to each other. A new website, the Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) Prioritization Preview, which is now live, is the first phase of planned updates to the FMCSA’s SMS. “Motor carriers can visit the website to preview how their data would appear under the proposed changes,” according to the FMCSA. “Companies are encouraged to preview these results and submit feedback on the proposed changes to FMCSA at the Federal Register website. Other users will be able to view sample pages. FMCSA strongly encourages stakeholders to participate in the preview and submit their comments to the public docket.”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel in the U.S. has been steadily declining — albeit slow and steady — over the past few weeks. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average price for a gallon of diesel was $4.444 as of Feb. 13. That’s down from $4.539 on Feb. 6 and $4.622 on Jan. 30. According to industry analysts, prices are likely to continue to drop as U.S. diesel reserves, which were once badly depleted, are now filling up once again because of falling demand. Diesel demand by truckers fell off at the end of 2022 as high inflation impacted U.S. demand for goods. The Cass Freight Index for December, which measures cross-country shipments, showed a 3.9% year-over-year decline in shipments. In addition, the Cowen/AFS Freight Index showed a 13.7% year-over-year drop in truckload volumes for the fourth quarter of 2022. “This week was supposed to be when diesel prices blew out to the moon, but that’s not close to what happened,” Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho, told Reuters.  

BATON ROUGE, La. — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Feb. 9 visited Lake Charles, Louisiana, to highlight federally-funded infrastructure investments that include a $150 million grant to help replace a 70-year-old bridge that’s a key route between the state and Texas. In December, the red Deep South state received the multimillion-dollar grant to help replace the outdated Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge. The bridge — which has no shoulder lanes, no lights and a steep incline — was designed for a 50-year lifespan and a capacity of 37,000 vehicles per day. Currently, around 90,000 vehicles cross the bridge. “If you’re paying attention to American infrastructure then you know how important this bridge is to, certainly, jobs, the waterfront attractions and the quality of life here in southwest Louisiana — but also to a supply chain that impacts the entire country,” Buttigieg said with the bridge in the background. The Democrat stressed that the bridge is also an evacuation route for Lake Charles, a city of 78,000 residents, which was pummeled by hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020. The bridge, whose construction began shortly after World War II, has been deemed by officials as “structurally deficient” and earned a reputation for its traffic congestion and higher than average crash rate. “If words could build bridges we would have got this done a long time ago,” Buttigieg said. “But talk doesn’t build bridges. Funding does. Cooperation between different political parties and levels of government does.” The total expected cost to replace the bridge and modify interchanges is $1.5 billion, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson said during Thursday’s press conference. Construction of the new infrastructure is estimated to take six to seven years. Currently, there is $800 million in public funding for the project, including $600 million in state funds and $200 million in federal funds, Wilson said. “A new bridge will not just be good for southwest Louisiana or just Louisiana, but for the nation as a whole,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. President Joe Biden visited the bridge, which he described as a “recipe for disaster,” in May 2021 to promote his proposed infrastructure plan. Six months later, Congress passed a $1 trillion infrastructure deal, allocating money for roads, bridges, ports, rail transit, safe water, the power grid, broadband internet and more. The replacement project is among the first major grant recipients under the five-year infrastructure package. The grant is the largest Louisiana has ever received from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Edwards said. Buttigieg also was scheduled to visit Port Arthur to highlight a $13.2 million grant to expand the size and capacity of the port and improve the efficiency of freight movement while lowering emissions.

WASHINGTON — A Republican senator from Nebraska is working to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) strict new regulations against heavy-duty truck emissions, which are due to begin in March. Sen. Deb Fischer’s Congressional Review Act resolution has 33 co-sponsors. In December, the EPA announced that the requirements in its final rule will lower emissions of NOX and other air pollutants (PM, hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and air toxics) beginning no later than model year 2027. “The final program includes new emission standards that are significantly more stringent and that cover a wider range of heavy-duty engine operating conditions compared to today’s standards; further, the final program requires these more stringent emissions standards to be met for a longer period of when these engines operate on the road,” according to the EPA. “Heavy-duty vehicles and engines are important contributors to concentrations of ozone and particulate matter and their resulting threat to public health, which includes premature death, respiratory illness (including childhood asthma), cardiovascular problems and other adverse health impacts.” In a news release, Fischer said that the Biden administration is “saddling the trucking industry with an onerous regulation that would jack up vehicle costs and hurt good paying jobs.” Further, Fischer wrote that “this aggressive EPA rule – which will hit mom and pop truck operations the hardest – is also ineffective because it incentivizes operators to keep using older, higher-emitting trucks for longer. During a period of high inflation and supply chain disruptions, the last thing this country needs is more expensive freight costs and fewer truckers. I am proud to be leading a large coalition of my colleagues to push back against the Biden administration’s obsession with excessive climate regulations.” The Owner-Operator Independent Driver’s Association (OOIDA) supports Fischer and her colleagues’ efforts. “If small-business truckers can’t afford the new, compliant trucks, they’re going to stay with older, less-efficient trucks, or leave the industry entirely,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Once again, EPA has largely ignored the warnings and concerns raised by truckers in this latest rule.” Danny Schnautz, president of Clark Freight Lines in Pasadena, Texas, was quoted in a news release issued by Fischer’s office on the issue. “The prior years of over-ambitious emission standards have already created unreliable equipment for many years and even driven one of the primary engine manufacturers out of the on-road industry,” Schnautz said. “These ongoing emission systems failures are devastating.”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel fell to $4.539 as of Feb. 6, down from $4.622 on Jan. 31 and $4.604 on Jan. 23, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Prices are also down slightly in California at $5.482 per gallon on average. That’s down from $5.508 on Jan. 30 and $5.484 on Jan. 23. The lowest prices can be found along the Gulf Coast at $4.29 per gallon on average. Benchmark U.S. crude oil for March delivery rose $1.33 to $78.47 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for April delivery rose $1.40 to $85.09 a barrel.

WASHINGTON — Nearly 50 businesses and nonprofits — including rideshare companies Uber and Lyft, industrial giant 3M and automaker Honda — are pledging millions of dollars in initiatives to stem a crisis in road fatalities under a new federal effort announced on Feb. 3. It’s part of the Department of Transportation’s “Call to Action” campaign, which urges commitments from the private sector, trade groups and health and safety organizations to reduce serious traffic injuries and deaths. Traffic fatalities are near historic highs after a surge of dangerous driving during the coronavirus pandemic. The public-private effort, unveiled Friday as part of the department’s multiyear strategy started last year to make roads safer, ranges from investments to improve school crosswalks to enhanced seat belt alerts in Uber vehicles and a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to promote proven injury prevention strategies, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told The Associated Press. It comes on the heels of the award of 510 transportation grants this week totaling more than $800 million under the bipartisan infrastructure law to states and localities that, for the first time, focus on road safety such as by adding bike lanes, lighting, protected left turns and sidewalks. After a record spike in 2021, the number of U.S. traffic deaths dipped slightly during the first nine months of 2022, but pedestrian and cyclist deaths continued to rise. More than 40,000 people are killed in road crashes a year. “It’s still a crisis,” Buttigieg said, stressing a need for a national change in mindset. “We’re looking at road deaths coming in year after year in a similar proportion to gun deaths. The problem is they’re so widespread and so common that I fear as a country we’ve gotten used to it and perhaps fallen into the mistaken sense they’re inevitable.” “We can’t solve any of this on our own,” he added. “We also know there isn’t one piece that will get this all down. But if we add all this together it can be enormous.” Road travelers will see an array of safety measures this year. Uber told the AP that it is donating $500,000 — its single biggest investment in its effort to reduce drunken driving — for free and discounted rides in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Texas as part of the “Decide to Ride” program run in tandem with MADD and Anheuser-Busch. The world’s largest ride-share company also said it was doubling the availability of its bike lane alerts this month from 71 cities to 144 for passengers exiting vehicles near cycling routes and providing a safety checklist for Uber Eats bicycle couriers. It also pledged to strengthen its seat belt alerts, such as by increasing their frequency or adding an audio message along with pop-up messages urging riders to “buckle up.” “We were thinking about how we could make an impact more broadly — how we can get people to start making better choices,” said Kristin Smith, head of Uber’s road safety policy. “We know it’s going to take a broad coalition of people to be tackling the crisis on U.S. roadways right now.” Uber’s investment comes along with separate commitments from Lyft, the second-largest rideshare company, which has partnered with the Governors Highway Safety Association in recent years to award tens of thousands of dollars in state grants to help reduce impaired driving and curtail speeding. 3M, the maker of Post-it Notes, industrial coatings and ceramics, told the AP it was continuing its partnership with state transportation agencies to identify the best technology to make road signs and lane markings more visible and reflective. It’s already pledged to improve 100 school crossing zones and added to that a commitment of $250,000 this year for a new transportation equity initiative that will fund half a dozen major projects in underserved areas. The company cited as an example its partnership with nonprofit groups to help build out Providence, Rhode Island’s, Hope Street Urban Trail last year, featuring new bike and pedestrian lanes connecting the neighborhood to schools and the commercial district. Dan Chen, president of 3M’s Transportation Safety Division, praised the federal government’s call for action as the “right approach” that will allow companies like 3M to work in sync with policymakers and other stakeholders “to make roads safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.” Other businesses and groups joining the effort include American Honda Motor Co., which pledged continuing investments totaling $2 million to improve teen driver safety; UPS, which will install automatic emergency braking on its newer big delivery vehicles; and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group, which will step up its push for industry adoption of safety technologies such as auto high beam. The Transportation Department said it was issuing an open call for pledges, and more companies were expected to join in the coming weeks. Buttigieg, noting the need for a sustained, multiyear effort to substantially reduce traffic fatalities, emphasized the opportunities as well with President Joe Biden’s five-year $1 trillion infrastructure law and said much more work remained to rebuild public works and improve people’s livelihoods. “I definitely have four years’ worth of items and then some,” he said, speaking of his job as transportation secretary.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The first part of 2023 has seen diesel prices rise again and again. The week of Jan. 30, the average price for a gallon of diesel fuel sat at $4.622, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s up from $4.604 on Jan. 23 and $4.524 on Jan. 16. Rising demand and refinery issues are to blame, according to energy experts. Meanwhile benchmark U.S. crude oil for March delivery fell $1.78 to $77.90 a barrel Monday. Brent crude for March delivery fell $1.76 to $84.90 a barrel.

Arizona officials refer to a notoriously congested stretch of desert highway through tribal land as the Wild Horse Pass Corridor, a label that’s less about horses than the bustling casino by the same name located just north of where the interstate constricts to four lanes. With the Gila River Indian Community’s backing, the state allocated or raised about $600 million of a nearly $1 billion plan that would widen the most bottleneck-inducing, 26-mile section of I-10 on the route between Phoenix and Tucson. But its bid for federal grant money under the new infrastructure law to finish the job fell short, leaving some advocates for road construction accusing the Biden administration of devaluing those projects to focus on repairs and mass transit. “Upset would be the right terminology,” Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland said of his reaction when he learned the project won’t receive one of the law’s first Mega Grants the U.S. Department of Transportation will announce this week. “We thought we had done a good job putting the proposal together. We thought we had checked all the boxes.” The historic federal investment in infrastructure has reenergized dormant transportation projects, but the debate over how to prioritize them has only intensified in the 14 months since President Joe Biden signed the measure. The law follows decades of neglect in maintaining the nation’s roads, bridges, water systems and airports. Research by Yale University economist Ray Fair estimates a sharp decline in U.S. infrastructure investment has caused a $5.2 trillion shortfall. The entire law totals $1 trillion, and it seeks to not only remedy that dangerous backlog of projects but also build out broadband internet nationwide and protect against damage caused by climate change. Some of the money, however, has gone to new highway construction — much of it from the nearly 30% increases Arizona and most other states are receiving over the next five years in the formula funding they can use to prioritize their own transportation needs. For specific projects, many of the biggest awards available under the law are through various highly competitive grants. The Department of Transportation received around $30 billion worth of applications for just the first $1 billion in Mega Grants being awarded, spokesperson Dani Simons said. Another $1 billion will be available each of the next four years before the funding runs out. Still, the first batch has been closely watched for signals about the administration’s preferences. Jeff Davis, senior fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation, said it’s already clear that the Biden administration plans to direct a greater share of its discretionary transportation funding to “non-highway projects” than the Trump administration did. However, with so much more total infrastructure money to work with, Davis said, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” For example, one of the projects that the administration told Congress it had chosen for a Mega Grant will widen Interstate 10 — but in Mississippi, not Arizona. Davis said the department likely preferred the Mississippi project due to its significantly lower price tag. This year’s Mega Grants combine three different award types into a single application, one of which caters specifically to rural and impoverished communities. Some of the winning grants are for bridges, while others are for mass transit — including improvements to Chicago’s commuter train system and concrete casing for a rail tunnel in Midtown Manhattan. Along with the nine projects selected, transportation department staff listed seven others as “highly recommended” — a distinction Davis said makes them clear front-runners to secure money next year. Arizona’s I-10 widening effort was part of a third group of 13 projects labeled as “recommended,” which Davis said could put them in contention for future funding unless they’re surpassed by even stronger applicants. But such decisions remain largely subjective. Advocates for regions such as the Southwest, where the population is growing but more spread out, argue that their need for new or wider highways is just as big of a national priority as a major city’s need for more subway stations or bicycle lanes. Arizona state Rep. Teresa Martinez, a Republican who represents Casa Grande at the southern end of the corridor, said she was livid when she heard from a congressional office that the administration might have turned down the I-10 project because it didn’t have enough “multimodal” components. “What does that even mean?” she said. “…. They were looking to fund projects that have bike paths and trailways instead of a major interstate?” Testifying in March before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg assured Arizona Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly that he understood the state’s unique highway needs and that his department wouldn’t “stand in the way of a capacity expansion where it’s appropriate.” Some Republicans, however, remain skeptical, in part due to a memo the Federal Highway Administration distributed in December 2021, a month after Biden signed the bill. The document suggested states should usually “prioritize the repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction, replacement, and maintenance of existing transportation infrastructure” over new road construction. Although administration officials dismissed the memo as an internal communication, not a policy decision, critics alleged they were trying to circumvent Congress and influence highway construction decisions traditionally left to states under their formula funding. Last month the Government Accountability Office concluded the memo carried the same weight as a formal rule, which Congress could challenge by passing a resolution of disapproval. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the ranking Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, pledged to write one. According to figures the Federal Highway Administration provided to The Associated Press, 12 capacity-expansion projects have received funding through previous competitive grants since the memo was issued. States also have used their formula funding toward 763 such projects totaling $7.1 billion. As for the Arizona project, some state officials have expressed plans to move ahead on their own if they can’t secure federal money — although they’re not giving up on that, either. Considering that one crash can back up traffic for miles between the state’s two largest cities, they say it remains a top priority. McFarland, the Casa Grande mayor, said perhaps the next application will stress some of the other components of the $360 million request besides the highway widening — including bike lanes that tribal leaders have long sought for some of the overpasses. “If you read the tea leaves, you can see where they’re at,” McFarland said. “… It’s a competitive process. You don’t always get it the first time you ask for it. So, ask again.”   ___

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel has risen to $4.604 per gallon, up from $4.524 on Jan. 16, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA statistics show that the highest price for a gallon of diesel is in California at $5.484 per gallon, and the lowest can be found along the Gulf Coast at $4.320. Rising oil prices and increasing demand are to blame, according to energy experts. Benchmark U.S. crude oil for March delivery rose 86 cents to $81.01 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude for March delivery rose $1.35 to $87.47 a barrel. RECESSION FEARS The second consecutive quarter of economic growth that the government reported on Jan. 26 underscored that the nation isn’t in a recession despite high inflation and the Federal Reserve’s fastest pace of interest rate hikes in four decades. Yet the U.S. economy is hardly in the clear. The solid growth in the October-December quarter will do little to alter the widespread view of economists that a recession is very likely sometime this year. For now, the economy expanded at a 2.9% annual rate in the fourth quarter, though some of the underlying figures weren’t as healthy. Consumer spending, for example, grew at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, and business investment was weak. Last quarter’s growth was fueled by factors that won’t likely last. These include companies’ restocking of inventories and a drop in imports, which meant that more spending went to U.S.-made goods. Increased borrowing rates and still-high inflation are expected to steadily weaken consumer and business spending. Businesses will likely pare expenses in response, which could lead to layoffs and higher unemployment. And a likely recession in the United Kingdom and slower growth in China will erode the revenue and profits of American corporations. Such trends are expected to cause a U.S. recession sometime in the coming months. Still, there are reasons to expect that a recession, if it does come, will prove to be a comparatively mild one. Many employers, having struggled to hire after huge layoffs during the pandemic, may decide to retain most of their workforces even in a shrinking economy. Last year, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate seven times, from zero to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The Fed’s policymakers have projected that they will keep raising their key rate until it tops 5%, which would be the highest level in 15 years. As borrowing costs swell, fewer Americans can afford a mortgage or an auto loan. Higher rates, combined with inflated prices, could deprive the economy of its main engine — healthy consumer spending. Fed officials have made clear that they’re willing to tip the economy into a recession if necessary to defeat high inflation, and most economists believe them. Many analysts envision a recession beginning as early as the April-June quarter this year. So what is the likelihood of a recession? Here are some questions and answers: WHY DO MANY ECONOMISTS FORESEE A RECESSION? They expect the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes and high inflation to overwhelm consumers and businesses, forcing them to slow their spending and investment. Businesses will likely also have to cut jobs, causing spending to fall further. Consumers have so far proved remarkably resilient in the face of higher rates and rising prices. Still, there are signs that their sturdiness is starting to crack. Retail sales have dropped for two months in a row. The Fed’s so-called beige book, a collection of anecdotal reports from businesses around the country, shows that retailers are increasingly seeing consumers resist higher prices. Credit card debt is also rising — evidence that Americans are having to borrow more to maintain their spending levels, a trend that probably isn’t sustainable. More than half the economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics say the likelihood of a recession this year is above 50%. WHAT ARE SOME SIGNS THAT A RECESSION MAY HAVE BEGUN? The clearest signal would be a steady rise in job losses and a surge in unemployment. Claudia Sahm, an economist and former Fed staff member, has noted that since World War II, an increase in the unemployment rate of a half-percentage point over several months has always signaled a recession has begun. Many economists monitor the number of people who seek unemployment benefits each week, a gauge that indicates whether layoffs are worsening. Weekly applications for jobless aid actually dropped last week to a historically low 190,000. Employers continue to add many jobs, causing the unemployment rate to fall in December to 3.5%, a half-century low, from 3.7%. ANY OTHER SIGNALS TO WATCH FOR? Economists monitor changes in the interest payments, or yields, on different bonds for a recession signal known as an “inverted yield curve.” This occurs when the yield on the 10-year Treasury falls below the yield on a short-term Treasury, such as the three-month T-bill. That is unusual. Normally, longer-term bonds pay investors a richer yield in exchange for tying up their money for a longer period. Inverted yield curves generally mean that investors foresee a recession that will compel the Fed to slash rates. Inverted curves often predate recessions. Still, it can take 18 to 24 months for a downturn to arrive after the yield curve inverts. Ever since July, the yield on the two-year Treasury note has exceeded the 10-year yield, suggesting that markets expect a recession soon. And the three-month yield has also risen far above the 10-year, an inversion that has an even better track record at predicting recessions. WHO DECIDES WHEN A RECESSION HAS STARTED? Recessions are officially declared by the obscure-sounding National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” The committee considers trends in hiring. It also assesses many other data points, including gauges of income, employment, inflation-adjusted spending, retail sales and factory output. It puts heavy weight on a measure of inflation-adjusted income that excludes government support payments like Social Security. Yet the NBER typically doesn’t declare a recession until well after one has begun, sometimes for up to a year. DOES HIGH INFLATION TYPICALLY LEAD TO A RECESSION? Not always. Inflation reached 4.7% in 2006, at that point the highest in 15 years, without causing a downturn. (The 2008-2009 recession that followed was caused by the bursting of the housing bubble). But when it gets as high as it did last year — it reached a 40-year peak of 9.1% in June — a downturn becomes increasingly likely. That’s for two reasons: First, the Fed will sharply raise borrowing costs when inflation gets that high. Higher rates then drag down the economy as consumers are less able to afford homes, cars and other major purchases. High inflation also distorts the economy on its own. Consumer spending, adjusted for inflation, weakens. And businesses grow uncertain about the future economic outlook. Many of them pull back on their expansion plans and stop hiring. This can lead to higher unemployment as some people choose to leave jobs and aren’t replaced. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — A new proposal in Congress is designed as a “sweeping overhaul of the interstate trucking supply chain,” according to its sponsors. South Dakota Republican Dusty Johnson and California Democrat Jim Costa introduced the Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking (SHIP IT) Act on Jan. 24. In a news release, Johnson said that the act “increases safety and shipping capacity for truckers, provides recruitment and retention incentives for drivers and includes flexibility during times of emergencies or black swan events.” Johnson added: “Americans experienced a slew of freight disruptions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year we addressed ocean shipping reform, and it’s clear that updates are needed for other parts of the supply chain. The SHIP IT Act will bridge gaps, keep costs down for consumers, and make it easier for shippers to move products across the U.S.” Costa pointed to disruptions in the trucking supply chain, saying that they continue to drive up costs and create uncertainty for American consumers and producers. “We need to recruit, train, and retain truck drivers to keep our supply chain moving, while also updating best practices to improve trucking to fit our modern economy,” Costa said. “That is why we introduced this bipartisan legislation to strengthen the workforce and make it easier to move products across the country.” Sean Joyce, executive director of the Shippers Coalition, said his organization is fully behind the proposal, calling it “vital to strengthening our supply chain by increasing shipping capacity, lessening burdens on truck drivers, modernizing the CDL process and allowing additional flexibilities during times of emergency. The 80-plus members of the Shippers Coalition appreciate Congressman Johnson’s steadfast leadership on these issues and look forward to working with him to help this critical legislation become law.” Trucking manufacturers are also lauding the SHIP IT Act. Matt Joy, president and CEO of heavy-duty truck parts manufacturer Hendricks, said that making things easier on the trucking industry is vital to the nation’s economy. “Anytime we can make the recruitment of qualified truck drivers easier and with greater retention, that is a positive step for the supply chain,” Joy said. “Additionally, addressing the efficiency of moving goods on our roadways aligns well with America’s need to become more environmentally conscience, while keeping safety at the forefront. We are grateful to have Congressmen, like Representative Johnson, lead these significant and important issues.” At the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) CEO Michael Dykes called the SHIP IT Act “commonsense trucking reform.” It “will help dairy companies overcome many of the current supply chain challenges facing our industry,” he said. “The legislation would bring the U.S. supply chain into the 21st century to meet the needs of shippers, reduce regulatory burdens that cost shippers millions of dollars a year, create good paying jobs, and support the ambitious sustainability goals of dairy businesses. IDFA is grateful to Reps. Dusty Johnson and Jim Costa for their leadership on this issue, and we urge swift passage of the SHIP IT Act in both chambers of Congress.” Tom Madrecki, vice president of Supply Chain, Consumer Brands Association, said the legislation will lead to fewer empty miles driven and a more robust, well-trained workforce. And, most of all, a stronger national supply chain. “The SHIP IT Act offers tangible solutions that stand to immediately address pressing supply chain challenges,” Madrecki said. “We call on Congress to pass this bipartisan legislation and take meaningful steps to lower consumer costs, enhance efficiency and support safety.” QUICK FACTS The Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking (SHIP IT) Act: Modernizes the authority for certain vehicle waivers during emergencies, allowing waivers in response to disease and supply chain emergencies. Allows truck drivers to apply for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants. Incentivizes new truck drivers to enter the workforce through targeted and temporary tax credits. Streamlines the CDL process, making it easier for states and third parties to administer CDL tests. Expands access to truck parking and rest facilities for commercial drivers.